Oldtimer gallery. Trucks. IMAD.
24 X 1940 - 1945 or 1946, IMAD (Industrija Motora Akcionarsko Drustvo), Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1945 or 1946 - 1951, IMR (Industrija Motora Rakovica).
1951-1961, TAM (Tovarna Automobilov Maribor) in Slovenia.
All the data on this page are from Maslacak Vojkan, press-coordinator of Yugoslavian Society of motoring Historians.
Maslacak Vojkan together with Miroslav Milutinovic wrote the book on this topic and now are looking for editor to issue a book. Hope to see this book printed soon.)
At first the photos with comments:
45k photo - Opening of the Factory on 24.10.1940 and a row of new trucks for the Army (wheels not yet mounted)
42k photo - First delivery of new trucks to Army, winter 1940 (behind the factory building)
58k photo - IMAD Trucks in German Army - photo taken in Beograd 1942
31k photo - nicely restored IMR bus from year 1946
Below are fragments from his messages regarding Ford plans of assembly in Yugoslavia and IMAD:
It is only a story about Ford Production in Yugoslavia before the WW II. The Ford Company tried to establish a production in Montenegro (Crna Gora) back in 1930 - the model was Ford A, but inspite of all efforts it never came to even assembling. A few boys from Montenegro have been sent for training to USA, but they remained with Ford factories after the training. After that failure Ford organised a Factory in Istanbul, Turkey.
Interesting is a war of interests in this story: Ford USA had planed a production somewhere in Mediterranian. The Ford Trieste - a big importer and service find himself as a first candidate. After Ford USA had chosen Montenegro, people from Ford Trieste made all possible obstacles to prevent this production. On the other hand Czechoslovakian auto-industry had also an interest to build a car factory in Yugoslavia - because of very good connections between Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. And they spent many efforts to win. And they had - a first automobile production - not assembling, but a real production was under licence of Praga RN in Belgrader factory for Aircraft engines - IMAD (Industrija Motora Akcionarsko Drustvo) where in year 1940 the truck factory was opened. Before the War, during the War and after the War (to 1951) about 1600 Praga RN trucks have been produced there (about 300 in the year 1940/41). After that the production was moved to factory TAM (Tovarna Automobilov Maribor) in Slovenia and there about 19.000 trucks have been produced (to 1961).
Some of those trucks are still working - a few days ago I saw one more than 40 years old truck transporting bee-houses in fields near Belgrade. Pity, I had not a camera with me.
You are welcome to write me by E-mail Contact. Andrei Bogomolov.
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Last updated 19 X 2002.